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Newbie not sure about some things

MartinB

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Hi all.
Had my Karma drone for a few weeks now so learning how to use it still at the moment.
I have just been on holiday with the drone in a mountain region and a thought struck me that made me nervous about flying there so, hoping this forum can answer some questions.
When at rest waiting to take off the drone is reading 0 altitude no matter how high above sea level you are, now on flat ground areas this is fine but what happens in mountain areas, if you take off and fly over a ravine or large drop and go downwards so below the 0 altitude, does the drone think it should be landing and cut the motors thus falling to its death?
Also if it does carry on flying when below 0 altitude will the return home function still work as expected?
Thanks in advance Martin.
 
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Hi there and welcome!
This may not be 100% correct - however this is the theory I see in play when I fly.
The GPS distance is measured at Ground level, meaning from the launch pad. Any altitude shown above that is distance from the controller.
I have flown from high to low in a canyon before. The GPS worked and it knew where it was. What I did not check was did the GPS show a negative altitude?
 
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Hi Martin my drone dose the exact some thing because i am on hills. i have noticed when i take it down a hill the altitude meter shows in the negatives. this will not affect the gps and the longitude and latitude. the return home will still work fine because it goes to a set high before coming back. say you are flying your drone at -20m below the take of altitude. when you return home the drone will fly to a certain height (i have mine set to 50m) this means the drone will still go up to the 50m mark by going up 70m before beginning to come back. the auto landing works fine even at negative altitude. i think the altitude meter is just there for the flyers knowledge. meaning that the drone itself dost relay on its own altitude.
 
Hi all.
Had my Karma drone for a few weeks now so learning how to use it still at the moment.
I have just been on holiday with the drone in a mountain region and a thought struck me that made me nervous about flying there so, hoping this forum can answer some questions.
When at rest waiting to take off the drone is reading 0 altitude no matter how high above sea level you are, now on flat ground areas this is fine but what happens in mountain areas, if you take off and fly over a ravine or large drop and go downwards so below the 0 altitude, does the drone think it should be landing and cut the motors thus falling to its death?
Also if it does carry on flying when below 0 altitude will the return home function still work as expected?
Thanks in advance Martin.

The altitude is your elevation at "take-off". It should read zero when you are on the ground. if it shows 150 feet, it means 150 feet above your takeoff point...not actually 150 feet above the ground.

If you fly from the top of a mountain down into a valley or canyon, it will show negative altitude. Again -150 feet means 150 feet lower than your takeoff point. The drone will function just fine...assuming you don't lose GPS connection by flying into a narrow canyon.

If your remote loses connection with the drone (assuming you still have a GPS) The drone will first rotate towards ether the landing site or you (depending on which option is selected on your controller as the default). The drone will then fly to the safe height set in your controller prior to your flight (I think default is 100 feet, too busy to check at the moment). If the drone is -150 feet, it will ascend to 100 feet (250 feet of total ascension) before flying back to you. It will NOT avoid obstacles. Make sure you set your safe return high higher than obstacles in your flight path. IF your drone regains connection with the controller, you can click the "x" on the screen to cancel return to home function and manually fly the drone.

If you are in a narrow canyon and lose GPS connection, you will have to manually fly the drone back to you. RTH will NOT work.

If you lose both GPS connection and connection to the remote, your drone may drift with the wind...and land where ever it lands... best avoid this scenario :)
 

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